On the Other Side
by H20Phobic
Summary: Taking place in the years after Alza Masta's defeat summoner Tobias and the lovely goddess Tilith are enjoying their long overdue vacation to the fullest. Of course, plans dont always go accordingly and now Tobias is drawn into a war between two opposing factions.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, everyone, I'm back! with something else! if you're someone who has read my other story you may or may not have wondered where I had been. The answer is storyboarding this! I got a little bored writing my other one which is just regurgitation with some newish elements I decided I wasn't really enjoying myself as much as I had been when I first started. I'll put up a new chapter of it sooner rather than later however. This one is pretty much brave frontier only, It takes place in the same universe as Summoned Roses however so that means same summoner and his experiences. This also gives me a chance to give him a little special something from Remnant, for those of you who have never heard of me before and have no idea what I'm talking about I'll explain later. I do hope you all enjoy this story if you have any questions don't be afraid to ask I always try to reply to a question using either messaging or ill answer it with the author's notes. Feedback, of course,e is always appreciated and of course, enjoy the story!**

Chapter 1: Heros Fall

"Baylee… run… now…Hurry and get everyone out of here." The person who was imploring her to leave was her partner, her friend… everyone's hero, Dorian. He looked the part as well, golden blond hair that was almost too neat to be called bedhead but too messy to look like it was purposely done so. Kind blue eyes that showed an unstoppable determination. And of course, his ever-present ever confident smile. He was exactly the kind of man she looked up too and exactly the kind of man she would want to be with after this war was over.

The only problem now was that it seemed like they were not going to be able to see the end of it together, his eyes were dulled, the fight finally knocked out of him as he slumped over on the wall, cracks splaying around where he had slammed into it. His smile was also missing, in its place was a pained and accepting grimace, blood trickling from his mouth

"What are you doing standing there!? Kill him!" came a magically amplified woman's voice that echoed throughout the throne room. The voice was not directed at either of them but at the green haired man that was standing over Dorian, his sword already stabbing him in the chest. He panted heavily as he looked over his shoulder back at the throne, before shuddering and turning back to look at Dorian's face. For a moment longer, he hesitated as they stared at each other and faint purplish sparks arched along his neck wrist and ankles. Before he let out a pained breath and his finger twitched along the handle of his sword, as did so the weapon made a strange clicking and whirring noise and the hilt which was strangely tubular expanded and shifted underneath the blade so the holes at the end pointed towards Dorian. Once the hilt was done shifting what looked like the trigger from a crossbow popped out of the handle again and the green haired man unhesitatingly pulled the trigger. There was a bang as wind rushed out of the tubes the hilt made and the painfully clear rending sound of metal armor and snapping of breaking bones. The man pulled the blade out of Dorians now collapsed chest and he slumped over, dead beyond any measure of doubt. She stared at Dorian's unmoving body for a moment longer before his last words rushed back into her mind. She struggled to pull herself to her feet, using the wall she had also been thrown into to steady herself, she hazarded a glance at the man to see what he was doing and instantly her blood went cold, he was looking back at her with a twisted version of a smile on his face, as if he was taking great joy in his actions. If Dorian's last words hadn't been circling in her head she probably would have thrown her bow to the side and tried to fight him herself, as futile as it would have been. Dorian was their best sword fighter and his Divine sword put his strength on a whole other level, but the man before her matched that strength and skill, then surpassed it. With all those things in mind, she quickly grabbed her bow and ran out of the throne room as fast as possible.

"DO NOT LET HER ESCAPE, AND GET ME THAT BOW!" came another voice, this one male, and rugged sounding.

"You heard him. Go!" The female voice sounded off again, and instantly she heard the clicking and whirring of that mans weapon again. She dove through the throne room doors and kicked it shut right as another bang sounded from inside the room, the top half of the doors -where her head had been before she dove- were blown apart. She quickly scrambled to her feet and continued to run through the twisting hallways her and Dorian had gone through together barely ten minutes before.

It felt like hours but she finally burst out of the small keep and nearly ran face first into her other comrades who were busy wrapping up the perimeter, any enemy fighters were subdued knocked out or dead.

"Baylee what's the big deal!" said the dwarf -Carter- she had nearly bowled over. His war axe resting on his shoulder as he looked at her. "Where's Dorian?"

"We need to leave now." She said, glancing back at the door as she began to push him towards the main gate. The commotion she was causing drew the attention of the rest of her friend group who had joined her today. "Hey, Bay what's the problem? You and Dorian already took care of Valron right?"

"Stop talking! We need to leave now!" Baylee practically screamed at them all, drawing the attention of the regular soldiers who were walking around making sure the prisoners were all secured.  
"Hey. Baylee stop acting weird and just tell us what the hell is wrong with you, we should be meeting up with Dorian anyway I don't know why you came out here alone." Said a human girl a few years younger than Baylee, her name was Bella she had long red hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and a very angular face, her green eyes were glaring at Baylee as she stood there with a hand on her hips twin longswords hanging off of them.

Baylee wanted to just scream, she couldn't deal with this right now they needed to leave. She opened her mouth but someone spoke over her.

"O' gods of chaos grant me flame so I may purify my foes in a pyre!" Came the shout from the keep doors. Everyone whirled in surprise right as the man they were here for, Valron thrust the long sword in his hand at them. Flames erupted from the tip in a stream, piercing through Nonil, a lizard man. Taken by surprise he could do no more than fall to the ground with a pained grunt his greatsword falling noisily next to him, a black scorch mark surrounding a sizable hole in his stomach was left from the piercing flame.

Valron stood triumphantly at the entrance to the keep. He wore red and gold armor all over his body but his face was not covered by a helmet, he had a rugged look to him and a large scar that went down half of his face and over one eye. His cruel gray eyes, however, stared down at them unblinkingly with nothing but contempt as he flourished his wings out behind him, they were jet black, letting everyone know which order of gods he was an angel to. He raised the blade in his right hand again and made to strike again, this time everyone moving out of the way of the strike. The dwarf Carter dragging Nonil out of the way.

As they recovered Bella let out a hoarse whisper. "Hey...isn't that Dorian's sword."

Baylee turned desperately to the elder elf standing in the very back of the group. "Kane Please get us out of here!"

Being the eldest of them all he seemed to grasp the situation far better than the others. "Meet me at the courtyard in the town, ill go gather everyone! Be quick!" he said as he sprinted off.

There was a massive wave of heat and everyone turned to see their last member Dwayne defending against another stream of fire with his large shield. "Its time to go!" he shouted as he began to make his way down the stairs, making sure no one was in line of sight for Valron to strike at.

"You really think I'll let you leave?" Valron said incredulously. He gripped the blade with two hands "O' gods of chaos ill unleash the potential to strike down even you!" as he finished intoning the sword shined brilliantly and Valron emitted a palpable pressure, his physical abilities skyrocketing. He dashed forward, moving insanely fast, in an instant he had covered half of the stairs and was in front of Dwayne. Dwayne couldn't even make a sound of surprise as the blade slammed into his shield, for as large and thick as the shield was it might as well have been made of paper because Valron sliced straight through it, leaving a deep gash in Dwayne's shoulder as blood sprayed.

Baylee stared in shock and pulled her bow off of her back as Dwayne dropped the shield in pain.

Valron made to attack again but before the strike landed a thin longsword pierce through a gap in the armor making Valron flinch backward. Bella instantly grabbed Dwayne and pushed him behind her before fluidly following up with another strike from her opposite arm. Valron was too fast, unfortunately, parrying the blade then swiftly striking out in a horizontal slash, the top halves of Bella's swords shattered and she screamed out as the blade tip bit into her cheek, sending her sprawling down the stairs.

Valron quickly rushed to finish her off but Baylee saw her chance. "O' gods of order grant me the power to restrain even you!" She intoned as she drew the bowstring back, her soul burned with power as an arrow of light appeared in her shining bow. She released the arrow right as Valron made to stab Bella, the bolt catching in right in the chest. He let out a surprised "Urk?!" as the arrow sent him flying into the stairs and pinning him there.

He let out a snarl and grabbed at the arrow with one hand attempting to break free of the arrow.

"Now's our chance! We need to get out of here!" Baylee shouted back to Carter who was still making his way down the stairs awkwardly with Nonil.

"I'm way ahead of you! We gotta get him some first aid." Carter shouted back

Bella climbed to her feet. "This is our chance to finish him! He can't move!" Bella shouted back, picking up Dwayne's dropped sword.

"Stop! We need to leave before he shows up!"

"Who are you talking about?! We can end this war right now"

Before Baylee could say anything more someone breathlessly shouted. "Thank the gods! You're all still alive!" Kane was limping badly but was moving as fast as he possibly could up the stairs towards them.

"Kane, what are you doing here? I thought you were getting everyone else?" Bella asked in confusion.

Kane shook his head and went over to grab Bella who spluttered in confusion as he dragged her roughly down to where Carter and Nonil were. Baylee and Dwayne quickly grouped near them.

Not giving them any time to ask questions Kane brought a Tanto knife out and intoned. "O' gods of order give me the ability to travel unimpeded by even you!"

The blade shined and the world around them distorted and began to turn black. The last thing they heard was Valron's enraged roar.

The color was restored to the world in a sudden rush. They had ended up in a lush green forest, it was quiet except for the panting and groaning of six people standing there.

"What...happened Kane." Baylee asked who was leaning against a tree.

"Someone transported to the marker in the town from the keep. He wiped out half of our men before we even realized he was there. Everyone else sacrificed themselves so I could get you all out of there..."

Baylee clenched her fists, that twisted smile flashing in her memories, Dorian's lifeless eyes.

"Did that person...have a strange sword with a hilt that moved? Did it make weird noises?"

Kane glanced up at her as he caught his breath. "Yea…"

"That's… that's the person who killed Dorian.

Everyone let out a sound of disbelief. "You mean they tricked you guys somehow right? Got you from behind…?" Bella said, her voice trembling.

"There's no way Dorian lost in a fair fight… He's taken on some of the best fighters and wizards at the same time." Dwayne said.

"He did...I was there watching, I couldn't even get close to them or help Dorian in any way…"

"You're really telling me there's nothing you could have done!" Bella said loudly, getting in Baylee's face. "You might as well have killed him yourself then!"

"You didn't see what they were like!" Baylee shouted right back. "That man took on the divine sword's trump card and beat him!"

In her anger all her other emotions came out, tears welled up in her eyes as she fell to her knees sobbing. "I couldn't help him... I've never felt so helpless before.."

"Oi...sorry to interrupt but we've got one who is badly wounded and one who is in critical condition." Carter spoke up for the first time in a while, as always, managing to keep a cool head in any situation.

Kane nodded and stood up with the support of Bella, groaning as he did so. "Carter is right, I had to get us out of there so I didn't really have a destination in mind but let's get back to the capitol.

Everyone nodded in agreement and Baylee stood, wiping her eyes.

"I won't forgive him…" she muttered to himself. "Ill definitely avenge him…"

"O' gods of order grant me the ability to travel unimpeded by even you!"

* * *

Tobias holstered his shotgun and sat down heavily against the side of a house as he vacantly watched Delilah's soldiers round up the rest of the warriors from earlier, either gathering them for a mass grave or turning them into prisoners of war. As he watched from the side the man from the castle suddenly flashed into his mind, making his stomach churn. He covered his face with his hands, guilt wracking his body. Faintly he could hear the sound of heels on cobblestone making their way towards him. He looked up and saw Delilah herself making her way over, a victorious smirk on her face. She was a succubus, that much at least was obvious from the purplish bat wings that sprouted from her back and the tail with a tip pointed like an arrow. Being a succubus she was of course extremely gorgeous, she had a round, almost innocent face with equally round light purple eyes that were framed with silver hair. Naturally, she also had a perfect hourglass shaped body, straight out of the dreams of men.

She wore very little armor, a form-fitting chest piece modified to go around her wings and chain leggings were all she had in terms of armor.

"Excellent work. I was impressed when you dealt with that cursed wraith when I first brought you here but you truly are something else.

"Thank you…" Tobias said and after a moment of hesitating. "Master…"

Delilah's smile grew even larger. "Good, you're learning." she leaned close and inspected him. "Not even a scratch on you...very useful." She murmured as she gave him a once over. "Well, just to be safe...head back to the keep and go see the nurse. I wouldn't want my pet getting ill."

Tobias kept silent as he rose to his feet, simply nodding his understanding and walked off.

Delilah watched him leave before turning her attention to the base of the steps where her king stood.

Her smile went from victorious to sultry as she made her way closer and closer. Once she was within earshot Valron spoke as gruffly as usual. "So that's the pet you mailed me about huh…"

"Yes. Now you see why I was so excited to message you that I had a breakthrough." Delilah said lowly, sidling up close to him.

Valron simply gave her a glare and continued to speak. "Well I have to say I'm impressed, we got results from everywhere today and even killed the biggest thorn in our sides. It seems to make you that Magical and Tactical general was a good call.

Delilah practically began to glow with joy at the praise from her lord.

"However," he said coldly. "I see it still doesn't listen as well as it should. See to it that it doesn't cause any more problems. If we had gotten the Divine Bow as well today this war would have been over."

"Yes, sir…" She said quietly.

Valron let out a snort and began walking towards a large purple crystal next to one of the buildings. "Since we dealt a serious blow here we should work on our next steps. I'll send some more men in the next few days as well as one of our own Divine weapon users. I trust you won't disappoint me in the weeks to come." With those as his last words Valron placed a hand on the crystal, after a moment it shined brightly and a light swallowed up Varlon, teleporting him away.

* * *

*One Week Earlier*

"Come on Tilith lets go… this is the third desolate world we have been too and this one isn't even interesting!"

"Oh come on! I'm sure if we teleport a few miles somewhere else we might find something!"

"You said that three times already, its been nothing but sand, sand, and more sand. It's starting to get into my socks. Besides...I know you're hot you could probably make a river with all that sweat."

"How rude! Goddesses like myself do not sweat!"

"..."

"...but...It is hot I suppose…So I guess we can go. Hey! Don't roll your eyes at me!"

Tobias let out a sigh then grinned at Tilith, who grinned right back.

"Let's hope the next world is populated...I would like to meet some new people!" Tilith said brightly.

"Yea that would be nice. I just hope there's no more sand."

"You're such a sourpuss sometimes." Tilith giggled and spun away from Tobias. Raising her hands over her head. "Gate!" In front of them, space warped and collapsed onto itself as a shining portal appeared rainbow lights pulsing from it. Tilith wrapped her arm around Tobias's and they stepped through the portal together, instantly they were whisked into the vortex.

"I wonder what this world will have in store for us," Tilith said as she looked up at Tobias.

"I'm kinda hoping we appear by some mountains...I wouldn't mind a good hike. What about you?"

"Hmm, probably a beach! We haven't been to the ocean in five worlds!"

"You always want to go to a beach…"

"Are you saying you don't like seeing me in a swimsuit?" Tilith said mischievously.

"I certainly don't dislike it…" Tobias muttered quietly. Before Tobias could give Tilith an answer she could actually hear an earsplitting crackling sound ripped through the vortex.

"What the!?" Tobias shouted as Tilith let out a scream, covering her ears. Seemingly coming from nowhere purple lightning arced straight for them striking them head-on.

Tobias and Tilith both let out shouts of pain as the lightning wrapped around them more and more.

Tobias grit his teeth and opened his eyes, the lightning making his limbs feel like lead as the tendrils of purple wrapped around them more and more. He glanced over at Tilith and saw that she was in an even worse predicament. Tobias used all his strength to move and grab Tiliths arm. Coming fast was a bright light, another world but more importantly, an escape from whatever this was. They finally traveled close enough to the light and Tobias acted, putting all his strength into it he practically threw Tilith into the light. A little dangerous, yes but the second she vanished and transported into the new world the tendrils redirected themselves back onto Tobias.

He shouted in agony as he slowly felt his consciousness fading, the last thing he saw before the world went black was something purple form on his wrist.


	2. Chapter 2

**There's nothing much for me to say aside from enjoy. I'll be getting chapters out whenever. Don't expect too much of a schedule its just when I can make time and enjoy writing these kinda things.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Arrival

Delilah let out a frustrated growl as she poured over the various reports that had been sent to her from the main capital. "This is just ridiculous." She muttered as she scratched her head. "Is it possible that the prince's father was actually an idiot? Maybe he had finally gone senile." She let out a deep sigh and rested her head on the desk for a moment. I'm glad my lord trust me enough to let me try and turn this war around but really...Why did he have to put it all on me!? She thought to herself. She dragged her attention back to the old reports. "Still it is so weird…We were in a deadlock with them until suddenly we took disadvantageous fight after fight and lost so much ground all in the span of half a dam year! Surely anyone with a brain would realize they were doing something wrong. Practically giving the enemy our resources… not to mention they have six of the divine weapons to our two now... Gah, I don't get it! What the hell was he thinking?" Exasperated and tired of talking to herself she stood up roughly and walked to the door if her study. As she pushed the oak door open it groaned softly as it swung open, it was much better than it had been before, groaning so badly she thought it was going to fall off its hinges. In truth, she had only been living here a few days and she and the small staff that has been sent with her were still getting settled and cleaning up the place.

She distinctly recalled the course of events of her last day in the capital, Pandora. Lord Valron had suddenly appeared in the Arcane Archives asking for her personally. He was brief and to the point. "In three days time you will be moving to your new base of operation, I've already sent people over to repair and renovate. You can take some of your staff as well so decide quickly."

Delilah was taken aback at the sudden commands. "I...ah. Pardon me my lord but why would I have to move? Would it not make more sense for me to remain here to continue researching magic?"

"It is high time this war ends. I'm no longer wasting the resources we have available to us, and that means that you. Grand Arcanist will be put to use to your fullest. I'm appointing you as one of my Generals and Strategist, the old king's generals are too weak minded in their age, I need people with actual talent."

"I'm flattered and honored my lord but I have no experiences with things like this…" Delilah said.

"I'm more than aware. Don't worry a few days after you get settled in the keep I'll be sending help, advisors workers and soldiers anything you would need."

"Ah...um my lord you said a keep but surely it can't house that many people…"

Valron shook his head. "It's actually an abandoned town, no one remembers the name so if you want you can call it whatever. I sent people in beforehand to make sure it is in livable condition by the time you arrive." Valron turned around abruptly, deciding the conversation was over. As he strode out of the building his parting words were. "I'm expecting good things from you...Grand Arcanist."

Delilah strode down the halls with no particular destination in mind when a soft-spoken voice called out to her.

"Ah, Milady I was just coming to bring you some tea." her head butler called out to her.

"Thank you, Norman," Delilah said as she picked up the cup and took a sip. The soothing scent and taste helped calm the raging thoughts inside her head and she exhaled slowly. "Delicious as always, thank you." she began to walk again, cup in hand and Norman following at a respectable distance behind to one of the many balconies in the keep. "Right now...they have at least two divine weapons still hidden as trump cards as far as anyone knows. If we can get a foothold in this area we might be able to go investigating to find out which ones they are… but to do that we need something to turn the tide...against this many divine weapon users it would have to practically be divine intervention itself!" Delilah bemoaned quietly.

Norman chose that moment to speak up. "I've been with you since you were but a child...and I've seen your talents blossom, frankly I do believe that if anyone could bring back the gods from the heavens, it would be you."

Delilah was silent for a while as she gazed over the people working around the small town, repair houses and getting facilities working again, she turned to Norman and handed him the now empty teacup.

"Bringing the gods back huh...Let everyone know I'll be gone for a few days. I need to go to the archives." Delilah said a burning determination could be seen in her eyes.

Norman smiled slightly and gave a slight bow. "Yes, ma'am."

Delilah stood in a large clearing a mile or so away from the keep, a large pile of ancient looking books were piled up next to her as she gazed over a large intricate magic circle. "This...might blow up…" she said as she gazed at it, inspecting it from all angles as she walked the circuit before turning back to her large pile of books and paging through them. They were some of the oldest books in the grand archives that they had, dating back to the time when the gods had come into existence, or first made contact. No one really knew.

If I leave it as it is now it might be unstable… maybe if I…

Delilah set about creating five more magic circles on the circumference of the first. As a way to absorb and stabilize any excess energy.

She swallowed heavily as she looked upon her final product, all of it born from speculation and loosely translated ancient arts. Kneeling down in front of it she placed both her hands on the circle, casting away and doubt she had for herself. "This intricate magic is my specialty anyway, and...for my lord...I'll drag even the gods out of heaven!" turning challenging eyes towards the heavens she said this as she poured magic energy into the circle, causing it to glow a brilliant purple.

"O' gods of ch-..." she stopped her incantation short for a moment before continuing a sudden flash of inspiration hit her. "O'gods residing in the heavens give me your strength so I may turn the tide against my foes!" she finished her revised incantation as she continued to pour energy into the circle. For a moment nothing happened and Delilah looked up as she panted.

The world around her shook suddenly and violently, causing her to fall backward, the inside of the circle crackled violently with magical tendrils of energy, as the very air inside the circle began to warp and fold in upon itself. There was another ear-splitting rumble as a hole opened in the middle of the air. Delilah stepped back fearfully as the magic tendrils were sucked into the hole, making horrifically loud indescribable noises. The hole suddenly lit up, filling the circle with a light that was impossible to see into. As Delilah looked upon it with a mixture of fear and awe she noticed that the magic was starting to leak through, gouts of light slipped past the barrier of the magic circle, turning the ground black, not making her feel any better at the prospect of an explosion. Startled she ran towards the auxiliary circles she had made in preparation. She ran around frantically, quickly rewriting the meaning of the circles and activating them one by one. I've got to bind and suppress the energy or this explosion will probably remove the entire town and then some…!

She thought to herself as she frantically worked, as she finished the fifth one the circles all erupted at the same time, spewing a thick purple chain that whipped itself into the light.

Instantly, she fell to her knees, the spell she used to bind the intense magic coming from the circle flooded into her system all at once, the strain and feedback of the magic nearly knocking her out right then and there, it felt like something was trying to take her soul and rip it in half. The air trembled as the magic spiked for a moment, sending a towering pillar of light into the sky, successfully ripping a scream out of Delilah's mouth. The pillar shrank back into nothingness and silence filled the clearing.

Delilah stood up unsteadily as she looked over.

Did I do it…?

In the center of the circle, where the strange void anomaly had been, lying on the ground looked to be a young human man.

"...What the hell?" Delilah muttered to herself. "A human?" as she stared at the prone figure irritation and anger boiled up inside. "Fuck!" she shouted.

Loud noise caused Tobias's consciousness to return to him. He propped himself up on his forearms and looked up blearily at someone kicking and screaming at the dirt. As his senses continued to return to him he realized that it was, in fact, a woman, or rather a succubus throwing a massive fit. "-I accomplished a fucking portal spell for masochist! That's absolutely grand!"

Tobias stood unsteadily and the movement attracted her attention, cutting off her rant the woman turned to him scowling.

Warily Tobias grabbed the handle of his shotgun he had strapped to his back.

"What's your name?" the woman asked, and for whatever reason Tobias blinked, the question echoing strangely in his head, it was oddly compelling.

"My name is Tobias…"

"Well, Tobias...I apologize for having you be an...unexpected test subject...but go ahead and drop the weapon or whatever it is you have behind your back."

Tobias leveled his gaze at her. "Until I know what's going on here, I think I'll keep it where it is."

The woman chuckled menacingly for a moment. "You are the result of my failed experiment and the apparent source of a great deal of pain. I wouldn't test my patience at the moment, so DROP. YOUR. WEAPON." she said, emphasizing the last three words.

The order echoed loudly in his head, it felt like it was repeating itself over and over. Shaking his head he said. "Not on my-" Tobias started before a purple light flashed down his body enveloping him in excruciating pain. He cried out as the pain continued until it actually managed to intensify, it felt like his soul was being shredded. In the haze of suffering his weapon fell out of his hand and instantly the pain stopped.

Panting heavily Tobias looked up at the woman who looked back at him in shock. "What...did you just do." he asked.

"I...you…" The woman said bewildered. She walked closer, inspecting him from all angles. "Is it actually possible..?" she said as she stuck a finger towards him, her finger shined in a purple glow and in response Tobias's wrist and neck and shined with some kind of purple symbol wrapping around him.

She let out an incredulous laugh. "It worked...somewhat at least...I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this already but you aren't a god by any chance are you?"

"No.," he said.

"Well, in any case, this is a small success but you really aren't what I need." She said more to herself than to Tobias. "Go sit over there and I'll deal with you in a while...I should be able to try this one more time."

Once again her command echoed in his head, compelling him to do it. Tobias tried to ignore it but he could slowly feel that pain start building up again the longer he refused. Hesitantly, he walked over to where she told him to go, and the feeling stopped instantly. Leaning against the trunk of a tree Tobias muttered to himself. "What have I gotten myself into now…"

Delilah giddily stepped up to the circle again examining it, making sure everything was still in order. Satisfied that it was she placed her hand on the circle and began to pour magic power into it. Tobias watched curiously as the circle lit up the ground, the purple light reminiscent of the magic that dragged him here in the first place. Tobias watched expectantly when suddenly Delilah pitched forward, smearing the circle causing the light to slowly begin to fade. She caught herself before she face planted into the dirt and got up. She looked down at her hand for a moment before turning towards Tobias. "Hmm, it seems like it took an extraordinary amount of power to bring you here...if I could somehow streamline the process…" Although she was facing him it didn't seem like she was actually talking to him. She walked over while continuing to mutter to herself, once she was close enough she locked eyes with Tobias. "Well then...what to do with you?" she said to herself once more.

"Undo whatever that magic is and let me go?" Tobias suggested, shrugging his shoulders.

The woman sighed. "I suppose so, aside from a good test subject you are really in no position to be of help to me…I'll take you back to the keep and work on it." As she finished speaking there was a cracking sound that ripped through the quiet forest. Delilah looked back in confusion and saw the air in the circle warping into itself again. "What…?" Delilah said as she turned around. The space inside the circle crackled and tore at the spatial anomaly. "It's sustaining its own magic supply…?" The magic fluctuated again and flashed, with the flash came the sound like a muted explosion from the circle which kicked up a large dust cloud forcing Delilah and Tobias to cover their eyes for a moment.

In the moment after there was a noise like a strong wind blowing through an empty canyon. When Delilah looked at the circle her blood ran cold. At first glance it looked like a giant banshee or something, it was coated in some kind of ominous looking mist that obscured its shape as it floated there. It turned around -or at least she thought it did because she couldn't tell which way it was facing to begin- the mist parted for a moment revealing what was underneath. It was grey, decrepit, and pulsating without a real form. Despite that, however, she could tell it was looking straight at her.

Delilah took a step back and something like an eye popped out of the misty shroud, it was like a long tendril with a bloodshot glowing red eye at the end.

"What is that?" Tobias asked her, looking equally disturbed.

"I don't know." was all Delilah said.

The thing watched them for a moment longer, its eye shifting back and forth between the two before letting out a blood-curdling shriek.

Delilah felt her muscles lock up as irrational primal fear took over her body as the entity began to draw towards them. It felt like she could hardly breathe and her body shook uncontrollably. There was a snarl next to her and Tobias bolted forwards, headed straight for the thing. The eye locked onto Tobias and without warning the ground at his feet pulverized into a small indent, for his part Tobias continued to run through the assault almost unaffected, diving underneath the creature he grabbed his weapon which he had dropped not to long ago and hit the hidden mechanisms on the grip. The device whirred and clicked for a second as it turned into a bastard sword with an odd looking hilt, the only thing odder than the hilt was the blade, which looked like it was made of some kind of brownish stone.

The eye sunk back into the mist only to burst back out on the other side in front of Tobias -who immediately lopped it off.

The thing let out another blood-curdling screech which sent a fresh wave of fear through Delilah, as she stared at the clash. Tobias shuddered for a moment but seemed to brush off the fear of the thing in front of him and leaped forward, thrusting his blade through the misty coat and into the physical body of whatever it was underneath.

The monster's bone-chilling shrieks turned into pathetic wails as it was impaled completely, the stump of what used to be its eye flailed around occasionally hitting Tobias but he seemed to not even notice as the hilt shifted again this time pointing down the length of the blade. There was a bang what looked like a mixture of compressed air and rocks shot into the thing, ripping straight through it. The creature fell backward, unmoving and silent now thanks to the gaping hole through its body.

Tobias let out a huff. "Weaker than it looked, thank goodness."

Delilah stood up shakily, with the monster gone her wits were slowly returning to her. As she was talking calming breaths to try and center herself she could faintly hear the clanking of armor and shouting. Well, it took them a while but at least they aren't complete idiots. Delilah thought to herself as multiple armed men burst into the clearing.

At the sudden appearance of apparently hostile people, Tobias settled into a stance, preparing to fight them.

Delilah watched one of the higher-ups shout orders once they noticed Tobias in a hostile stance, the men formed ranks with practiced ease and the two sides stared each other down.

Delilah watched Tobias intently, the young man gave no indication that he was nervous. If anything he seemed confident. Although with the strength he showed not too long ago that confidence is well placed.

Stepping forward so everyone saw her Delilah shouted. "Everyone put your weapons down!"

The soldiers instantly stepped down, and after a moment of hesitation so did Tobias.

One of the commanding officers quickly made his way over to Delilah. "Ma'am, are you okay? We heard a horrendous noise and there was a beam of light. We thought we had come under attack." he said quickly as he constantly glanced over at Tobias and the scorched terrain.

"Ah...you heard that...I suppose it was quite loud." Delilah muttered. "You'll have to forgive me that was my experiment." she seemed like she was going to add something else but ended up keeping silent. "At any rate... I'm glad you are out here." she glanced at the small assembly of men then back at Tobias. "Get me your best fighter and mage…There are just a few more things I need to test."

"Yes, ma'am." The man said before walking over to the other men.

As he began to pick the two soldiers Delilah walked over to Tobias.

"Do you use magic?" She asked.

Tobias blinked. "Yea."

"Oh..? you used something other than basic elemental enhancement against that thing back there. If you're capable of doing more complex magic why not just be a mage? Stay off of the front line?"

Tobias stared at her blankly. "Complex? That was just a standard attack was it not?"

Now it was Delilah's turn to blink, but before she could say anything the commanding officer interrupted her. "Ma'am they are ready."

"Ah, thank you," Delilah said briefly glancing backward. "Come with me Tobias." she said as she turned around and walked quickly towards the crowd of people. Standing in front was a man about Tobias's height, with small red horns protruding out of this head, he had armor covering his legs arms and chest and a two-handed falchion. Next to him was a smaller guy with pointed ears much like an elf but they were still around the length of a human's. He was also less muscular and wore light armor. He had a shortsword with him and that was it.

"I want you to spar with these two so I can see what you can do." Delilah said.

Tobias opened his mouth to say no but the tingle of whatever magic that was affecting him caused him to stop. Instead, he muttered. "Fine…"

As they fought Delilah watched Tobias carefully. The soldiers stationed here were just regular soldiers, no one among them was of any notable reputation aside from herself, nonetheless, they were still quite skilled. It was just a starting force to get a foothold in the area. If worse came to worse they were tasked with buying her enough time to escape.

The first thing she noticed, the most important thing was while the warrior was enchanting his weapon with the power of air, Tobias did nothing, simply staring at him with interest. Thinking back on it she had never heard him use any kind of incantation to enhance his weapon. Once they started fighting Delilah had the commander stand next to her and explain it in better detail, being a mage and being the Grand Arcanist has left her with very little actual battle experience, much less any knowledge of swordsmanship.

"He's good." The officer said over the sounds of blades clashing. "Someone very skilled could probably beat him at pure swordsmanship but he's holding his own with no element against someone using an element to boost their strength, So he is definitely no joke."

Delilah let out a hum. "Stop." She shouted, causing both men to freeze mid-swing. They glanced over at Delilah and she pointed at Tobias. "What was that attack you used against that creature?"

"Eh? My shotgun?" Tobias asked turning around.

Delilah looked back at the commander in confusion and he shook his head.

"What is that?" Delilah asked.

"It's the second form of my weapon. Its a type of ranged weapon." Tobias explained.

"Like a bow?" Delilah tried to clarify.

"Kind of...but more destructive and it has less range."

"Show us."

"I don't want to hurt anyone on accident," Tobias said hesitantly.

"I sincerely doubt anything you can throw at them would hurt them seriously in one strike. To make you feel better. You, the mage, throw up a barrier."

The smaller half-elf walked up to the warrior and threw his hands forward. "O' gods of chaos give me the power of lightning so I may smite my foes!" the half-elf said, after that, he threw his hands out in front of him and lightning materialized in front of them like a wall.

"Interesting barrier." Tobias muttered before glancing back at Delilah. "You sure this is a good idea?"

She merely waved her hand at him to continue.

Shrugging Tobias engaged the transformation and brought his shotgun up, taking careful aim so he wouldn't hit the two men behind it he fired. There was a loud bang and a visible rush of air that came out of the barrel of the gun that impacted the barrier, the air the barrier shattered instantly, the lightning dispelling with a crackle and the people behind it ducking down as the stream of air rushed past.

The clearing was silent as Tobias holstered his weapon behind him again, he glanced at Delilah who was staring at him with burning curiosity.

"Alright everyone we're heading back!" Delilah said so everyone could hear her. "You are coming as well, I have a lot of questions for you."

Tobias stared at her in dismay as everyone began to march back to wherever they came from, the order still echoing in his mind Tobias resigned himself to listening as he began to follow.

They were sitting silently in what Tobias assumed to be a study, large bookshelves lined the wall

"What sect of the gods do you follow?" Delilah asked almost absentmindedly as she wrote on a piece of paper.

"Pardon?" Tobias asked.

She looked up. "The gods of chaos or the gods of order? Which side do you align yourself under."

"Uh...neither?"

"...Don't lie to me right now, this is important information I need to know it's impossible to use magic without being aligned to the gods so tell me. Which order do you follow."

"Wait, okay hang on. You do know I'm not from this world don't you?"

"Delilah squinted at him in disbelief. "Do you really not even know what you did?" Tobias asked in equal disbelief.

Delilah glanced around with a rather difficult expression on her face. "Not…entirely it was older texts and techniques that I based it on."

"That's was exceptionally dangerous… especially working with magic you have very little understanding of you could have killed me and yourself." Tobias said angrily.

"I'm more than aware it was dangerous but I was more than willing to risk it."

"I was unwilling! Tobias shouted as he stood up. Delilah looked startled for a moment before saying. "Sit back down."

Once again Tobias ignored the echoing command and instantly that soul-searing pain rocked through his body. Tobias endured as he reached for his sword, and Delilah's expression transitioned from anxious to fearful. Instantly the pain doubled and Tobias groaned. Purple sparks began to fly from his wrist and what looked like chains burst out of the ground and latched themselves to his wrist. The longer he resisted the greater the pain intensified until finally, Tobias collapsed back on the chair. The moment Tobias sat back down the chains and the pain both vanished instantly, leaving him groaning to himself. Delilah, on the other hand, was halfway out of her chair as she tried to take calming breaths. "At the very least...I'll apologize, if I'm being honest I had to do it out of desperation, for Lord Valron... to give us something, anything to turn the tide of this war. These next few months will probably spell the end of the war, and we are on our last legs basically… So we needed a miracle and I decided to take getting one into my own hands and it seems like I got one, my success and your appearance could be the turning point we needed."

Tobias glared at her. "And if I refuse to help?"

Delilah's shaken gaze instantly hardened the realization that he could not break the what control she had on him giving her courage. "I think both of us realize that you don't have a choice in the matter. Now, tell me who you are exactly and what you can do."

The whole time Tobias spoke, albeit reluctantly

Delilah was writing fiercely. Once he finished she looked up at him. "I see...A demon slayer huh." She got up and began to fold the letter and place it in an envelope. "You may go, just stay inside the keep, if you need anything just ask one of the servants. I'll send for you when I need you. Just make sure not to cause any trouble."

Tobias let out a sigh and stood up and left the study, as he left a butler, an elf walked in and he could hear Delilah. "Send this immediately, straight to Lord Valron tell anyone who tries to stop you it's an urgent message from the Grand Arcanist."

"Yes, Ma'am." The butler said before briskly walking out of the room.

Tobias leaned over the balcony and let out a massive sigh of relief. When she had asked him what he could do exactly he conveniently left out his summoning ability, and it seems that since she didn't know he was holding anything back or at least suspecting him of holding back information it didn't count as disobeying. Still...whatever this curse is...it could be troublesome I don't know what's going on here but I've gotta be careful. I hope Tilith is safe...and I'm glad I managed to get her out of this mess. He thought to himself as he watched the sunset.

He heard someone let out a curious hum and saw Delilah staring at him from down the hallway.

"Dinner is just about ready, the mess hall is down the stairs take a left down the hallway and it's the fourth door. You'll hear everyone in there anyway." She said as she walked off in a different direction.

* * *

"Bell, I'm telling you I really don't think your instructor likes me. If I didn't know any better I'm pretty sure he was trying to kill me."

"Oh don't be such a baby. He simply wants to bring the best out of you, for everyone." Bella replied.

"I'm not too sure about that one...it felt pretty personal if you ask me."

"I know I've said this tons of times before but are you sure it's okay for us to be training here? I feel weird having the servants always come and give me water and stuff after everything." Dwayne said as he looked at said servants of Bella who were bowing in respect as they passed by.

"But of course." Bella said, slightly turning up her nose. We have probably the best fighter in the country training and he holds the Divine sword, it's only right that he trains in the best possible environment as well, as well as his friends who support him so don't worry about it, Dwayne...Although, I do think we could do with less of your presence Baylee…"

Baylee shot Bella a dark look. "If you're including his friends then I'm pretty sure that I'm the first and best candidate that comes to mind, especially since I've been with him in all of our battles. Besides, no one can support him better than me." Baylee said as she hefted her bow up. I do more than you anyway."

"Please don't start fighting…" Dorian said weakly, turning to Dwayne for help only to grimace at his dead-eyed thousand-yard stare.

"I truly am just chopped liver…" he muttered among other things as he trudged next to them, The girl's argument continued to escalate and Dorian continued to try and console Dwayne. They left the Lienau manor boisterously and continued to walk down the cobblestone path until they reached the manor gates.

"Ah, so you were all here. Looks like you were right Carter." said a tall blond haired elf said, as he leaned against one of the gate walls and watched them approach.

"You'll learn to start listening to me more Kane, give it a few hundred more years and you'll realize I'm always right. The boy does nothing but eat, sleep, and train, and wherever he is so are they. Not terribly healthy if ya ask me though." said a dwarf with rugged features who has standing next to him.

Kane let out a laugh. "Suppose so." as he stepped back slightly to absorb the blow of someone running into him.

"I'm so glad you're safe." Baylee said as she wrapped him in a crushing embrace.

Kane laughed and returned the hug. "I know, and I also know you're only half-elf but you could stand to show a bit more elven dignity. You are crushing me."

"It's been months! How can you expect me to act any other way when I know you've been spying and in the middle of danger for that long."

"Ahhh you worry too much lass. This man here is probably the slipperiest man in the world, wouldn't put it past him to give death the slip while on his deathbed no less." Carter cut in grinning.

"I think you exaggerate my abilities far too much." Kane said as he took a step away and began to fish through his pockets. "At any rate… I've actually been in town for a few days but Commander Eiben has been grilling me and preparing the operation this whole time, which is also why I'm here." He handed Baylee and she held it up so everyone could read it while Kane continued. "While I was undercover Valron sent me as extra service staff for the Grand Arcanist."

He paused for a second as everyone's eyes shot up.

"Like, THE, Grand Arcanist? The one who came up with all of those advancements in magic that completely changed how people lived their daily lives?" Dwayne said in disbelief.

"Yup that one, she's actually a woman. A succubus, her name is Delilah Eden. The one who sent magic rocketing who knows how many years into the future." Kane said as he scratched his head. "And despite being a follower of the Gods of Chaos she had never actively followed or supported the war until recently, she preferred to research and improve on magic. I wasn't able to figure out the exact reason but it seems like it's centered around Valron."

He shook his head. "At any rate, I'm getting off topic. Apparently, she discovered or came across something big, so big in fact it shook the keep she's staying in from a mile away." He pointed at the note in Baylee's hands. "She sent a copy to Valron requesting he come as soon as possible so she could show him. I don't know exactly what it was didn't sound good. Fortunately, she picked me to send the message so I was able to bring all this information back. So I came to ask you all if you are willing to participate in the raid on the keep she is staying at, Commander Eiben pretty much has everything prepared and we are leaving in a day."

Everyone was silent for a moment before Dorian spoke up. "This is huge...we can end the war in one fell swoop here so of course, I'm in!" he clenched his fist together excitedly as he turned to look at everyone else.

Baylee smirked at Bella for a moment before turning to Dorian. "Of course, how would you get anywhere without your partner?"

Bella glowered at Baylee before nodding as well. "This is a good chance to get into the history books."

"If all goes well we should be seeing the end of the war together huh? This is a great chance." Dwayne said.

"I'm glad I have all of your support." Kane said as he gestured at Dorian and Baylee. "Unfortunately you two will be the only Divine weapon users there. The others are dealing with issues on other fronts."

"I'm confident we will be enough. Commander Eiben is very good at these kinds of things." Dwayne said confidently.

"Still, if the Grand Arcanist said it was something that could turn the tide of the war then we should still exercise caution." Bella said lightly tapping the paper in Baylee's hand. "If someone like that is confident about it then it is probably destructive."

"Then it's our job to nip it in the bud before it can hurt too many people." Dorian said, a righteous flame in his eyes. "Let's end this once and for all, for everyone!"


End file.
